What Essential Song Should I Learn?

wesleyamltd

wesleyamltd

Inspired
I would consider myself an intermediate player. But want to expand my repertoire and become a better player. I practice all the time but it is primarily scales, modes and theory.

In general, I’ve learned a lot of Metallica, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Nirvana, AIC, Black Sabbath, as well as a few from the following bands.

Opeth
Dream Theater
Faith No More
More I’m sure but….

What do you think would be an essential song for me to learn that would add to or expand my guitar playing in a meaningful way. Meaning a chromatic scale exercise would not benefit me beyond a straightforward warmup.

There are no wrong answers here, but in order to avoid analysis paralysis, please keep it one or two songs.

Please suggested a preset that will complement the song as point of reference.

Thank you for your help!

⭐️Caveat⭐️
  • Please don’t disparage genres.
  • This subject is not intended to be a debate of musical merit.
  • All genres have something to offer in terms of skill and technique.
  • This isn’t Lord of the Rings, “one genre to rule them all”.
 
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wesleyamltd said:
expand my guitar playing in a meaningful way
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Honestly? Just learning and playing songs will hardly help you these days. Especially heavy songs with one-two chords and complex rhythms to obscure a lack of chord changes and melodies.

Buy Frank Gambale's "Target tones" bundle, and two Oz Noy's "fundamental changes" series books, and work through them. Like really work through them.
Then apply what you've learned to
  • Basic blues, like literally any blues
  • C Jam Blues
  • Blue Bossa
  • Autumn Leaves
  • Rhythm changes
  • The Girl from Ipanema
  • On Green Dolphin Street
  • Misty
  • All the Things You Are
  • Stella By Starlight
  • Have You Met Miss Jones

Nothing in the rock realm will help you improve in a meaningful way as quickly and as powerful as these few.
Once you really master these, your music will expand to a whole new level. Even metal will be easier to grasp and navigate once your ear is OK with the basic changes and progressions everyone uses for the last 100 years. Everything you've ever learned and will learn can be applied here. This will open you so many doors you might think are irrelevant to you because your main interests are in a very different genres, but you'll see a connection once you are "there".

Learning Metallica songs is quite a waste of time if you want to grow - having said that, I'll confess Metallica is still #1 band for me and I worked through all their transcription books in school (I know, I know...)
 
More than expanding domination of more complex music concepts, styles or speed licks, I like to recreate the playing nuances of some guitarists. Gilmour BB King, Steve Hackett, Andrew Latimer, Steve Rothery, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck...

I put the original song on a DAW track, so I can easily play and repeat section by section. I record myself, and I do A/B comparisons.

Learning the notes to play may not be too difficult. Dominating the expression nuances takes time and ear-training, but it is very rewarding.

e.g.: few minutes ago I got goosebumps while playing this:


Not complicated, but recreating all the micro-details on each single note, bending, slide, vibrato... is delightful.
 
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Piing said:
More that expanding domination of more complex music concepts, styles or speed licks, I like to recreate the playing nuances of some guitarists. Gilmour BB King, Steve Hackett, Andrew Latimer, Steve Rothery, Ritchie Blackmore...

I put the original song on a DAW track, so I can easily play and repeat section by section. I record myself, and I do A/B comparisons.

Learning the notes to play may not be too difficult. Dominating the expression nuances takes time and ear-training, but it is very rewarding.

e.g.: few minutes ago I got goosebumps while playing this:


Not complicated, but recreating all the micro-details on each single note, bending, slide, vibrato... is delightful.
Click to expand...

This is great! Thank you! Never played any Gilmour. I look forward to this
 
I think the solos in Are You Gonna Go My Way, and Carry on Wayward Son both have great elements of classic rock guitar licks in them, that I'd even go so far to say are essential skills to have in any rock guitar player's vocabulary 'toolbox.'

Even Smoke on the Water solo has those same elements.

When I'm learning songs, I'm looking for those very things- licks that would carry over to others as well.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I think the solos in Are You Gonna Go My Way, and Carry on Wayward Son both have great elements of classic rock guitar licks in them, that I'd even go so far to say are essential skills to have in any rock guitar player's vocabulary 'toolbox.'

Even Smoke on the Water solo has those same elements.

When I'm learning songs, I'm looking for those very things- licks that would carry over to others as well.
Click to expand...

The solo of Smoke on The Water is a delicatessen. The notes can be learnt, but recreating all the nuances, as I've mentioned above, micro-vibratos and precision whammy bar shakes included, is another level of skill.

They've recently released a video with remastered audio



And this:
 
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Said by others-Learn different styles. Limiting yourself o one genre is restrictive imho. I have no doubt most of the folks we all consider great players can play fantastic OUTSIDE of their known genre also!
 
One of the things I've done that I feel helped my playing is trying to replicate other instruments, not tonally, but in their phrasing and note selection. This is along the lines several including @Piing have mentioned about learning the subtleties of players like Gilmour, Blackmore, and others.

For me, it was horn sections in funk and string sections in classical, but any instrument other than guitar would work. I recall someone (a long time ago) saying they played along with TV commercials trying to recreate the phrasing of spoken words and that struck me as a somewhat unique idea.

Basically, anything that gets you thinking and playing outside the stereotypical guitar notes and phrases. To me, that's what makes players like Gilmour so inspiring; their phrasing isn't like anyone who came before and not many since.
 
Churchhill said:
One of the things I've done that I feel helped my playing is trying to replicate other instruments, not tonally, but in their phrasing and note selection. This is along the lines several including @Piing have mentioned about learning the subtleties of players like Gilmour, Blackmore, and others.

For me, it was horn sections in funk and string sections in classical, but any instrument other than guitar would work. I recall someone (a long time ago) saying they played along with TV commercials trying to recreate the phrasing of spoken words and that struck me as a somewhat unique idea.

Basically, anything that gets you thinking and playing outside the stereotypical guitar notes and phrases. To me, that's what makes players like Gilmour so inspiring; their phrasing isn't like anyone who came before and not many since.
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This is something guys like Holdsworth and Santana always mentioned. Holdsworth and Saxaphone and I think I remember Santana saying he learned phrasing, etc. from listening to singers. I know I have heard other famous guys mentioning the same.
 
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